A Massachusetts woman was charged with the death of her 3-year-old son who died the night she went out drinking and partying while ignoring frantic texts from her older child who was babysitting.
Authorities say 25-year-old Jennifer Prudencio went out last Saturday night, leaving her youngest son, Yael Guardado-Prudencio, in the care of her 7-year-old and 8-year-old children at her apartment. When she came home on Sunday, Yael was dead.
Now, she faces involuntary manslaughter and reckless endangerment in the 3-year-old’s death.
Prosecutors say Prudencio went out drinking at a local bar on April 6 even though she knew “something was seriously medically wrong” with Yael. Yet, she wouldn’t return home despite several texts her 8-year-old son sent her through the night about the child’s worsening condition. One of those texts even included a video of Yael to show his physical state.
Prudencio messaged her son that she would be back that night, but instead, opted to stay the night at her boyfriend’s house, prosecutors said. She didn’t return home until 10 a.m. the next morning. That’s when she discovered Yael was dead.
“Generally, the child suffered from a seizure disorder and hemophilia and had been vomiting blood in the days prior to his death,” Assistant District Attorney Audrey Mark said in court, WCVB reported. “He had also fallen while having a seizure and had a bleeding wound to his face, which was not properly healing. The defendant had brought the child to seek medical care on two occasions over that week.”
Yael had reportedly been sick for weeks before he died.
NBC10 Boston reports that Prudencio spoke with state police Sunday morning and indicated that she was aware of her son’s condition and that she left him with no adult supervision. She also told authorities about the texts her oldest son sent her the night she stayed out.
Prudencio’s surviving children are now in the care of the state Department of Children and Families.
District Attorney Kevin Hayden called the case a “tragedy beyond words.”
A defense attorney said Prudencio was “severely distraught” by her son’s death. A judge set the mother’s bond at $100,000, more than 10 times the amount her lawyer requested.
She was also ordered to wear a GPS monitoring device, even though her attorney said there was no reason to believe she might flee.
She’ll be back in court on May 2 for a probable cause hearing.
